Return address label dispenser



Feb; 27, 1968 J. w. DESMOND 3,370,747

RETURN ADDRESS LABEL DISPENSER Filed on. 7, 1966 3,370,747 RETURN ADDRESS LABEL DISPENSER John W. Desmond, 104 Water Drive, R.D.,

Media, Pa. 19063 Filed Oct. 7, 1966, Ser. No. 585,141 6 Claims. (Cl. 221-26) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A device for dispensing stacked sheet material from a receptacle where each sheet is secured at one edge thereof to the other sheets in the stack. A friction contact is utilized for causing the top sheet of the stack to bow outward through an opening in the receptacle. The sheet may then be separated from its binding by a tearing action from outside the receptacle.

This invention relates to an article dispenser and more specifically to a dispenser especially adapted to allow individual removal of articles, such as return address labels, which are arranged in a vertical stack and secured with adhesive at one edge thereof.

Recently, time saving devices such as personalized return address labels have appeared on the market necessitating the construction of means for conveniently containing and dispensing them one at a time. In particular, return address labels are now being sold in vertical stacks with one edge of each label being secured to an edge of all the other labels in the stack by some sort of adhesive. The labels are printed with the return address of the sender of the 'letter so that when he desires to mail a letter, all he need do is remove the top label from the stack by tearing its edge from its adhesive bind to the edges of the rest of the labels and then applying it to the envelope, such as by moistening a gummed surface provided on the underside of the label.

Heretofore, there has been no convenient dispenser for labels such as this; it is the purpose of this invention to provide a convenient dispenser therefor.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an article dispenser for conveniently dispensing articles arranged in a vertical stack with one vertical edge secured to the vertical edges of all of the other articles in the stack.

Briefly, my invention comprises a receptacle for the article stack which includes an opening in one edge thereof and along and adjacent to which the secured edge of the article stack lies, and which further comprises a force producing means for urging the uppermost article toward and out of the opening until the entire label lies outside the container with the exception of its secured end, whereupon the label can readily be removed from the stack by tearing the edge therefrom.

While my invention is distinctly pointed and described in the appended claims, a full understanding of one practical embodiment thereof may be gleaned from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of my invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the section lines of FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show a series of steps in the operation of the embodiment of my invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a return address label dispenser 10 is shown, including a receptacle 11, in which a vertical stack 12 is contained, the upper left hand corner of which is shownthrough an opening 13, in the recep- United States Patent Cir Patented Feb. 27, 1968 tacle 11. The opening 13 lies in one corner of the receptacle 11 and is preferably fashioned such that its lower edge 14 on the vertical side of the receptacle 11 lies just below the uppermost return address label 15 in the stack 12. Alternatively speaking, the stack 12 is positioned within the receptacle 11 such that its secured edge 16 lies adjacent the vertical edge of the receptacle 11 containing the opening 13 and with the uppermost label 15 just above the lower edge of the opening 13. The opening 13 should be wide enough to allow the narrow dimension of the labels to fit therethrough.

Any means can be used to insert the stack into the receptacle, such as by providing removable base 17 for the receptacle 11. The base 17 can be larger than the rest of the receptacle 11 in order to provide a stable mount therefor. However, a preferred means for inserting the stack into the receptacle 11 is to provide a removable top 18 which slides onto the receptacle 11 by means of a tongue and groove arrangement including a tongue 11a molded to the receptacle 11 and a groove 18a molded into the top 18.

The receptacle may comprise a transparent material for viewing the unused label supply and may further comprise a plurality of receptacles mounted adjacent each other so that labels for the whole family may be dispensed.

A friction roller 19 is provided across the top 18 of the receptacle 11 and, preferably, its forward point 20 on its surface lies just in front of the back edge 21 of the opening 13. The roller 19 is adapted to be rotated about its axis by means of either one of the knobs 22 and 23 extending from the sides of the top 18.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is more clearly seen in the sectional view of FIG. 2, wherein the uppermost label 15 of the vertical stack 12 is shown just under and touching the lowermost point 24 of the roller 19. As stated with respect to FIG. 1, the uppermost label 15 in the stack 12 preferably lies just above the lower edge 14 of the opening 13. This may be accomplished no matter how tall or short the stack 12 is, by the provision of a biasing spring 25 located under the stack 12 on the interior bottom surface 26 of the receptacle 11. The tongue and groove arrangement 11a and 18a securely hold the top 18 on the receptacle 11 against the force of the spring 25. As stated with respect to FIG. 1, the forward point 20 on the roller 19 preferably lies just ahead of the rear edge 21 of the opening 13.

In the operation of my invention, in the preferred embodiment thereof as described with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2, reference is made to FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C. In FIG. 3A, the roller 19 has been rotated clockwise by means of twisting the knob 22 or 23, such that the uppermost label 15 has been forced by friction to bow outward of the opening 13. As apparent in FIG. 3A, the secured edge 16 of the uppermost label 15 is still secured to the edges of the remainder of the stack 12. However, by virtue of the fact that the edge of the uppermost label 15 lies just above the lower edge of the opening 14, the label 15 is allowed to bow out of the opening 13 without being hindered or caused to bow backwards by any contact with the lower edge 14 of the opening 13.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, the roller 19 has been rotated a little bit more in a clockwise direction so that the free end 27 of the uppermost label 15 now has completely passed under the lower point 24 of the roller 19, thereby allowing the label 15 to slip out of the opening 13 in the general direction as indicated by the arrow. Since the forward point 20 of the roller 19 lies ahead of the rear edge 21 of the opening 13, the label 15 can flip out of the opening 13 without being hindered by the rear edge 21 of the opening 13. The degree of bend of the bow in the uppermost label 15, as illustrated inFIG. 3B, is such that as soon as its free end 27 comes out of contact with the friction roller 19, it will flip quite rapidly out of the opening 13. In doing so it will be noted that the label turns completely over from its original stacked position.

In FIG. 3C, the uppermost label is shown completely flipped over and out of the opening 13 and just about to be torn away from the secured edge 16 of the stack 12 by manually grabbing and applying a ripping action to it.

Another feature of this invention can be seen by again referring to FIG. 38, wherein the friction roller 19, during its rotation, begins to cause the second uppermost label 28 to be forced toward the opening 13 while the uppermost label 15 is still being dispensed. This feature is shown in FIG. 3B wherein the second uppermost label 28 begins to bow out of the opening 13 in a similar manner to the uppermost label 15 in FIG. 3A. This bowing action of the second uppermost label 28 has been found to aid in the springing out of the uppermost label 15 of the opening 13, thus adding to the reliability and faultless dispensing action of the device.

Referring again to FIG. 3C, the uppermost label 15 is about to 'be completely removed and the second uppermost label 28 is already a good deal of the way toward being dispensed; However, by proper arrangement, the second uppermost label 28 will still lie completely within the receptacle 11 at the time the uppermost label 15 is completely dispensed. The device can thus remain in this position, as illustrated in FIG. 3C, until it is desired to dispense another label.

It has been discovered that in the embodiment of the present invention described above, the reverse action or counterclockwise rotation of the roller 19 is just as effective and reliable as the clockwise action described. In other words, should the roller be continuously operated beyond the position shown in FIG. 3C, such that a plurality of unwanted return address labels are flipped out of the opening 13, such as by a prankish child, the labels can be returned to their stacked position, simply by individually placing their free edge under the roller 19 and by rotating the roller counterclockwise.

While I have described my invention in terms of a preferred embodiment, it will be apparent after reading this specification and the appended claims, that the principles of my invention are equally applicable in other embodiments for the dispensing of articles arranged in vertical stacks and secured on one edge. For example, a sliding friction contact device may be substituted for the roller 19. Also, it is to be understood that only one of the knobs 22 and 23 needs to be turned to dispense a label. The two knobs have been illustrated as it makes the dispenser convenient for operation by either the right hand or left hand. For this reason, I do not wish to be limited to the embodiment described herein, but rather, should be given the full benefit of protection as indicated by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An article dispenser capable of allowing individual removal of successive ones of a plurality of flexible sheet material arranged in a stack and secured to each other at only a first edge thereof comprising:

a receptacle for containing the stack, said receptacle including an opening in one side thereof at least as wide as the smallest dimension of the articles to be dispensed, the stack being placed within said receptacle with its secured edge adjacent the sidewall of said receptacle including said opening,

means for biasing the stack within [said] said receptacle such that said secured edge of the article at an extreme end of said stack lies adjacent said opening, and

means for producing a force on said extreme article,

at least one component of which is in a direction toward the secured edge of said extreme article, to

force it to flip out of said receptacle through said opening such that said extreme article-may be removed from the stack by manually tearing at its secured edge.

2. An article dispenser capable of allowing individual removalof successive ones of'a plurality of flexible articles arranged in a vertical stack and securedat, only one edge thereof to each other along one vertical side of said stack comprising:

a receptacle for containing the stack, said receptacle including an opening in one side thereof at least'as wide as the smallest dimension of the articles to be dispensed, the stack being placed within said receptacle with its secured edge adjacent the side of said receptacle including said opening,

means for biasing the stack upward within said receptacle such that the secured edge of the uppermost article lies adjacent the said opening above its lowermost edge thereof, and a friction roller means mounted within said receptacle above and in contact with said uppermost article for causing a force component to be'applied to said uppermost article in a direction toward its secured edge such that said uppermost article is caused to bow between its secured edge and said contact portion in a manner to cause said uppermost article to.

bow outward of said opening,

whereby said uppermost article may be easily extracted from said receptacle and ripped from said vertical stack at its secured vertical edge.

3. The article dispenser as defined in claim 2 wherein said opening in said receptacle includes a top portion thereof which extends at least as far from the 'side of the receptacle including the said opening as does the point on said friction roller closest to the same side of the said receptacle. 7

4. The article dispenser as defined in claim 2 wherein rotation of said friction roller beyond a certain angular position but prior to complete disengagement with said uppermost article begins to bow the next successive article adjacent said uppermost article outward toward the said opening.

5. The article dispenser as defined in claim 2 wherein said receptacle includes a top and a body portion, said top being secured to said body portion by means of a tongue and a groove, said top portion including said openmg.

6.- A method of dispensing individual ones successively of a plurality ofpflexible articles arranged in a vertical stack and secured to each other at one vertical edge thereof including the steps of:

containing the stack within a receptacle including an opening therein in a manner such that at least the uppermost article lies slightly above the lowermost edge of the opening, r frictionally bowingtthe uppermost article out of the opening while maintaining one edge thereof in secured relation to the secured vertical edge of said stack,

aiding the outward bowing of the uppermostarticle through the opening by frictionally causing the second uppermost article to begin bowing outward of the opening, and 1 manually tearing the secured edge of the uppermost article from the secured edge of the vertical stack after all of the unsecured edges of the uppermost article are completely dispensed through the opening.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 813,594 2/1906 Sexton 271-22 2,153,278 4/1939 Shelley 22126 

